It is clear to all but the most blinkered observer that Iran's recent presidential election was a sham. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent "victory" over challenger Mir Hussein Mousavi, and the violence that followed, confirmed that the Islamic Republic is a brutal police state that crushes dissenting voices. Most governments around the world have refused to congratulate Ahmadinejad, realizing that such a gesture would merely legitimize the stolen election and discourage the pro-democracy protesters marching in the streets.

Unfortunately, various foreign officials--mainly from Middle Eastern countries and authoritarian regimes--did congratulate Ahmadinejad. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez was among them. He applauded the Iranian president's "very big and important...